Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): "When the only tool you have is a hammer," said psychologist Abraham Maslow, "you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail." Since it will be crucial for you not to regard everything as if it were a nail in the coming weeks, Aries, I suggest you make sure your toolbox is filled with screwdrivers, wrenches, drills, crowbars, and chisels, as well as hammers. If you want to nudge your craftsmanship even further outside of the box, you might also want to expand your definition of what a tool is. Remember that old TV show
MacGyver
? The hero used a paper clip to short-circuit the launch of a missile and a candy bar to plug up a leak of corrosive acid.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It's perfectly fine for you to have dreamy eyes in the coming days--wistful, hopeful, liquid eyes that are more focused on the fantasies within than on the sights without. Muse to your heart's content, Taurus. Wander over to paradise in your imagination. Entertain utopian visions. As much as is practical, give yourself permission to visit LaLa land, where you can explore infinite possibilities, imaginary adventures, and "forbidden" topics that up until now you haven't dared to play with.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet Kay Ryan told the
Christian Science Monitor
how she cultivates the inspiration to write. She rouses the sense of a "self-imposed emergency," thereby calling forth psychic resources that usually materialize only in response to a crisis. Please note that she doesn't provoke an actual emergency: She doesn't arrange, for instance, to have a loved one get pinned beneath the wheels of a car. Instead, she visualizes hypothetical situations that galvanize her to shift into a dramatically heightened state of awareness. This would be an excellent technique for you to try, Gemini. It's quite possible that simulating an imaginary crunch will prevent a real crunch. So picture yourself rescuing a talking parrot from a burning pet store; envision yourself making a snappy comeback that halts the abusive behavior of an out-of-control authority; imagine a nightmare in which you save the world.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Psychotherapist James Hillman and essayist Michael Ventura wrote the book
We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World's Getting Worse
. In it, they propose that resolving our problems may not necessarily come from sitting in a room talking about our deep, private feelings with a trusted counselor. Instead, the best approach might be to go out into the world and do good works like helping the underprivileged or fighting for social justice. That happens to be the right prescription for you in the coming weeks, Cancerian. As you marshal your moral force and collaborate with other people who are motivated by altruism, you'll heal your own personal pain.